Sepideh Darvishi

She is an Iranian researcher, writer, and political activist. She holds a PhD in Persian Language and Literature and is currently pursuing a second doctorate in History. Her academic and professional career has developed at the intersection of literature, history, culture, and the arts. She holds a master’s degree in Ancient Iranian Languages and Cultures and a bachelor’s degree in Printing and Publishing Management.

From Her Pen:

Writing has been an inseparable part of my life since I learned how to form sentences. For me, it is a way of recording what I have seen, making sense of what I have lived through, and searching for the meaning behind events that shape the lives of individuals and societies. Writing is therefore more than a profession for me. It is a way of thinking, questioning, and telling stories.

At one stage of my academic career, I focused my research on ancient Iranian texts, particularly Middle Persian and Manichaean texts and manuscripts. One of my major research projects examined the Living Gospel and compared it with other religious and narrative texts. This research opened a window onto the complex intellectual world, language, and literary heritage of ancient Iran.

Alongside my academic work, I spent many years working as a journalist and writer in the press and media. I collaborated with publications including Honar-e Zaman and Payam-e Mazandaran, where I worked as an arts editor and arts consultant. I also worked in the fields of art, production, event organization, and advertising, and founded my own company, Kish Art Kadr, in Tehran.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, my cultural and artistic activities expanded into documentary filmmaking. Making and producing documentaries gave me the opportunity to bring the narratives I had developed through writing from the page to the screen and to explore some of my social, cultural, and artistic concerns through cinema.

Social criticism, as well as opposition to and resistance against the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, became a significant part of my activities. This path came at a heavy cost. On June 30, 2011, my home was raided by forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). I was subsequently subjected to physical and psychological torture and ill-treatment for one year and seven months during more than seventy lengthy interrogation sessions at the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office on Moallem Street and at Branch One of the Shahid Moghaddas Interrogation Court in Evin Prison.

The complainant in my case was the Sarallah Corps of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I was charged with offenses including “assembly and collusion against the regime,” “propaganda against national security,” and “insulting Velayat-e Faqih.” The case, presided over by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, resulted in a sentence of one and a half years of imprisonment (three years suspended), as well as a ban on professional activities, a travel ban, and a prohibition on publishing my work. This process profoundly affected a significant part of my life and professional career.

I left Iran in 2017. In 2023, following another complaint by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a new case was opened against me on charges of “assembly and collusion with the intent to commit crimes against external security.” The case is still ongoing.

Today, I continue my work in the fields of history, literature, and cultural studies. I see writing and research as two fundamental ways of understanding the past, questioning the present, and documenting the human experience.